Phil Sealy, a longtime fixture in the Fox Cities arts community, has been honored as the first recipient of the Fox Cities Arts and Culture Award, a biennial award created to recognize key figures who have impacted and contributed to the growing arts and culture in the region.

The honor was handed out just as the Phil Sealy Retrospective exhibit came to a close at The Trout Museum of Art.

Sealy, best known as a master watercolorist, has been an advocate in the arts world here since the 1960s, including working in various capacities to ensure the survival of the art museum that would eventually become the Trout.

What began in the 1960s as the Appleton Gallery of Arts Association became the Appleton Art Center, and then The Trout Museum of Art. Sealy has played a number of different roles in the organization. He continues to serve on the board of directors of the Fox Cities Building for the Arts/The Trout Museum of Art.

Sealy's works, spanning from 1958 to present, was the backdrop for the evening.

Fox Cities Building for the Arts board members Kathi Seifert and Lisa Cruz were masters of ceremony. Guests also had the opportunity to bid on works of art created by local artists including Michelle Richeson, Jeff Hargraves, Sherri Thomas and Alecia Schmitz. The live auction was conducted by John McFadden.

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